mmmm curious....
the blue acaras are going round pecking at the gravel for food so alls normal there, been feeding them cichlid floating pellets and they dont seem too bothered by them, and when they do get a taste they spit them back out, so i tried some bloodworms thinking they gotta go mad for them but they do the same, they have a roll round the mouth by the looks of it and spit them out..
god knows what the store been feeding them lol, guess i gotta wait till they real hungry so they realise its all food lol

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190L corner with a variety of fish i will not mention as its ever changing and i cant be bothered to keep editing a sig

been watching the silver dollars and they are always hiding, was happier in my other tank, not sure if they are agreeing with the acaras, was warned against putting them with the acaras as they can be boisterous and the dollars are too placid, the 64L too smal lfor them so it looks like ive gotta find them a new home...
ill ask the shop if they can rehome them when i go get the missus some female dwarf gouramis to keep her males company

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190L corner with a variety of fish i will not mention as its ever changing and i cant be bothered to keep editing a sig

the dollars have gone to the fish shop all they did was hide from the acaras and wasnt fair so i hope someone else can give them a better home.
so now its a case of waiting to see if i have a male/female or male/male or female/female
one does chase the other and also shimmys sideways to it so it could be territorial or saying be my girl lol

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190L corner with a variety of fish i will not mention as its ever changing and i cant be bothered to keep editing a sig

swapped one of the acaras with another because of bullying, and bully was potentially a Green Terror, now new one being bullied worse
Rearranged decor an waiting to see what happens when lights go on tomorrow.

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190L corner with a variety of fish i will not mention as its ever changing and i cant be bothered to keep editing a sig

its more of a species tank bud, the blue acars will get quite large and eat any smaller fish, they spend a lot of time hiding at the bottom as they are only small at the moment themselves, give it a few months and all the fish in there will be more visable

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190L corner with a variety of fish i will not mention as its ever changing and i cant be bothered to keep editing a sig

You could put in some small, fast top-dweller as a "dither fish" such as hatchets to make the cichlids less shy and give them something to chase other than each other, but you are right the acara may eventually eat them or just kill them to protect a spawn.

new world cichlids will usually work out territories and pecking orders among themselves. Any change will be greeted with a flurry of aggression, but then they should settle down.

Pull any fish that has no "place" in the tank (say one that is laying sideways on top of plant to stay out of sight) or is not allowed to eat, has visible blood, or significant fin loss. I don't think 2 or 3 are too many for that that tank, but cichlid aggression can vary a lot between individuals and a spawning pair could easily want the whole tank (its 50 gallons, but only 2' in any direction, right?)

If your acara do get too big or mean for the tank, look for rainbow cichlids, heterotilapia multispinosa or a laetacara sp.

the tank looks bigger than it actually is, it has depth being a corner but is still smaller by the litre than a 4ft tank, the tank size should be fine (fingers crossed) and the fish grow large hence why im keeping it low stocked, the stock calculator recommends leaving as is too for when they are fully grown, the acaras could get to 8" and the pleco's about 6" each, all being messy fish long term im thinking more of the health issues, my plans long term for filtering will ease the pressure on the filter as i intend on getting a fluval 406 and add my 206 to my 64L then i can add a few more smaller fish for the missus.
As for the territory.. they are fighting for territory now with the 2 thats there and being to young to sex them that may change for the worse or better, maybe its m/f or f/f or m/m, time will tell
the plecos are left alone which is good.
Also a friend has the same tank and has 4 parrot cichlids and a few others and where they are larger fish they look like they need more space imo.
The Acaras are going to be the feature, they are beautiful fish, once they all grow it wont look empty anymore
It has been suggested i should breed guppys as feedersin the smaller tank, i know its nature but it feels cruel and wrong to do it
think i would rather pay for the feeders and not feel so guilty

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190L corner with a variety of fish i will not mention as its ever changing and i cant be bothered to keep editing a sig

Cichlids really don't need feeder fish, they will do fine on pellet. If you want to treat them, try live blackworms . But if you want to feed fish, breed your own. Paying money for a fresh batch of "disease of the week" carriers is not a good idea.

guess thats why my bud said breed guppys cos they breed like mice lol, so i guess its not something i should feel bad about then.
anyway reason to celebrate now... got my nitrates to 20ppm or there abouts after 70/30% ro/tap water changes, now if i stick at 50/50% hopefully i will get it to stick around there

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190L corner with a variety of fish i will not mention as its ever changing and i cant be bothered to keep editing a sig